Offline and Online Gender Differences in Opinion Expression about Women Inclusion in the Police Force in the Arab Gulf State of Kuwait

ABSTRACT

Employing the Spiral of Silence theory, this study examines the influence of four cultural dimensions (collectivism, resistance to change, commitment to religion, and patriarchy and hierarchy) on gender variations in opinion expression in incongruent offline and online opinion climates about women working in the police force in Kuwait. The response of 534 individuals indicated that a tendency for expressiveness and personal support for women were positive predictors of opinion expression, while fear of isolation and respondents’ beliefs about the stance of Islam on the issue were both negative predictors. Both genders were affected by the same variables when they expressed their opinions offline, but they were each affected by different variables when online. The results suggest that women benefit from online discussions more than men.

KEYWORDS:

• Opinion expression
• spiral of silence
• Arab culture
• Islam
• feminism
• gender differences
• women’s inclusion in the police force

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ali Al-Kandari

Ali A. Al-Kandari is an associate professor of mass communication at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. His major research interests include uses and gratifications theory, and new and social media use and effects in the Arab world. Recently, he has published articles on the use of social media in several journals including Journal of International and Intercultural Communication and Mobile Media and Communication.

Edward Frederick

Edward Frederick (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an associate professor of communication specializing in public relations at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, USA. His research focuses on mass media effects on public opinion and public relations.

Mariam Alkazemi

Dr. Mariam Alkazemi is an assistant professor of public relations at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has served as a fellow at the London School of Economics’ Middle East Centre and co-authored a book on Kuwaiti media law, published by Wolters Kluwer. Some of her research appears in International Communication Gazette, Communication Law & Policy and Newspaper Research Journal.

Ahmad Sharif

Ahmad Sharif (PhD, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale): is an assistant professor of Mass Communication at Kuwait University. His research interests include Arab public opinion and media effects.